One lap ahead
by Bookjunk
Summary: Brian gets there first.


_Author's note: The 'one lap ahead' phrase is not mine. Someone on twitter said it about Paul Walker and I thought it was fitting._

 **One lap ahead**

There was something weird about not having Brian around. Not that they didn't see each other anymore, but it was different. Sometimes it seemed as if Brian and Mia existed on a separate planet. No more blueprints and crazy plans for them. No more shooting the shit with Brian while racing through the streets of some city.

Dom was careful not to breathe a word of anything illegal in Brian's presence. Brian asked, of course, because he was Brian. He missed the thrill. Also, he was an idiot. He had a good thing going, so there was something in him that wanted to fuck it up. But Dom wouldn't let him. Mia would kill him if he somehow drew Brian back into the fray.

It was a shame, though. It was a shame to see a great driver like Brian – the best driver Dom had ever known, honestly; not that he would ever tell Brian – spending most of his time driving the kids to parks and play overs. It was like seeing the star quarterback benched and it tore at Dom a little bit.

'I'm gonna do what makes Mia happy,' Brian had said and at the time Dom hadn't really believed it. Not that he doubted that Brian would do everything he could do to make Mia happy. He better. But would it make Brian happy too? Turned out that: yes, it did.

The first time Dom realised that Brian was exactly where he needed to be was when Brian appeared at a family gathering with his toe nails painted, courtesy of his daughter. Everyone naturally gave him shit about it, but Brian took it all with a big, goofy smile on his face. Puzzled, Dom watched him. It took him an embarrassingly long time to arrive at the realisation that Brian didn't give a damn because he was happy.

Brian never stopped smiling. He never stopped looking at Mia as if she was the most beautiful woman in the world. He never stopped fucking with Rome, which remained ridiculously easy. He never stopped doing donuts in his insanely long driveway.

(***)

The last time Dom realised that Brian absolutely hadn't thrown away his gift to appease Mia was when they were both old and only Brian was grey.

'You wanna work on my new car?' Dom suggested. His voice boomed. It was the voice of a much younger man. When the two of them were together, Brian never had to turn up the volume on his hearing aid.

'Are you kidding me? If I get down, I'm never getting up again,' Brian stated, shuffling after Dom to the garage.

'Pussy,' Dom coughed.

'I know what you think, Dom,' Brian said. Gradually, carefully, Dom turned around.

'You think that I only married Mia to be close to you. Well, you're right. All this time, I've been in love with you. You're so pretty. I would like nothing better than to make sweet love to you,' Brian concluded. Dom didn't even blink.

'You joke, but we both know that I _am_ pretty,' he responded, resuming his walk to the garage. Where before they would have been there in seconds, it now took ages. Being old sucked.

'Too bad we can't be together, huh?' Brian continued.

'Yeah, just breaks my heart,' Dom dryly replied.

'What did you expect? Like I'd go up against Letty. She's fucking scary,' Brian explained. Chuckling, Dom pushed the button that opened the garage door. He glanced at Brian. The idiot was smiling again. Always with the smiling. Suddenly, his smile disappeared.

'For real, though, Dom. I know that you think that every second not spent behind the wheel of a car is wasted, but I regret nothing. This is where I belong.'

'Put on your glasses. We're inside a garage right now,' Dom pointed out, but Brian didn't appear to hear. He was staring at Dom's new car.

'Stop admiring yourself in the windshield,' Dom quipped, but Brian didn't respond. Instead, he slid slowly to the floor.

'Brian, stop screwing around. Brian? Brian!' Dom yelled, rushing to Brian's side as fast as he could. He dropped to his knees; causing them to creak alarmingly. Everything popped and hurt, but Dom hardly noticed. Brian's eyes were closed.

'Come on, stay with me,' Dom urged, while dialling 911 and giving them the address. Brian moved his lips, but no sound came out. When he leaned closer, Dom still couldn't hear anything.

'A little louder, Brian. Just 'cause I'm not wearing a hearing aid doesn't mean I've got perfect hearing,' Dom said. Brian smiled. It was faint at first, but it was definitely a smile.

'Ride's over, I guess,' he managed to whisper.

'Nah, Brian, you're just one lap ahead of the rest of us.'

'I like that,' Brian mumbled, opening his eyes and focusing on Dom. 'Don't hurry to catch up with me, okay?'

Dom nodded seriously, as if they were only talking about an insignificant ego thing. As if Brian wasn't dying right then, right there.

(***)

Those were their last words to each other. Dom felt bad about not having a final message to deliver to his sister until he realised that Brian had already said everything he wanted to say to Mia. He had given her his life, after all.

Even at eighty (and beyond), Dom still needed the speed and the danger to feel alive. Maybe he was just wired differently. Maybe he'd never acquire the sort of tranquillity you needed to quit the race. Some people simply never did. Dom was pretty sure that Letty would never get there and he loved her for it. And he loved Brian for reaching his true destination way before anyone else.

The end.


End file.
